Yes, they were invited in by the government. What's happening is that, in common with most of the countries in West Africa (notably Nigeria, but also Benin, Togo, Ghana ) Cote d'Ivoire (aka Ivory Coast) is comprised of five geographic regions: a coastal region, often deltas of rivers, like southern Louisiana, then, to the north, equatorial rainforest, then, north of that savannah (tall grass areas with groves of trees), then drylands with scrub brush, then finally, in some countries, desert or semi-desert. Culturally speaking, the further north you go the more Moslems there are. Bouaké, the main city in northern Cote d'Ivoire is in an area with a lot of Muslims, and fundamentalists there are trying to foment a secessionist revolt. The legal, or recognized, government, based in Yamoussoukro (an artificial capital like Ottawa, Canberra and Ajuba -- the biggest city is Abidjan, on the coast), officially asked for French and US help. The US evacuated its citizens and the French evacuated French and Canadians (2 of them, students at a missionary school there, are from Spruce Grove, in fact)
ObLDS: there are 2 branches of the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission in Bouaké: http://www.gatheringofisrael.com/atlas/africa/west/CI_yamoussoukro.gif For the south of the country, where most LDS live, see: http://www.gatheringofisrael.com/atlas/africa/west/CI_abidjan.gif (you can see even from this type of schematic map that the area is very much like the bayous of southern Louisiana, incidentally). The map has a bit of a mess-up with the list of wards in Abidjan city itself but you'll be able to see what's meant. For an overview of the whole country, to put the former two maps into context, see: http://www.gatheringofisrael.com/atlas/africa/west/tmstkcote_divoire.gif Bouaké is in savannah country but not far from the Moslem area of semi-desert to the north. Unfortunately the government's main concern is only secondarily for the well-being of foreign nationals -- it's to get them out of the way so they can use whatever measures necessary to put down the revolution, and "whatever measures necessary" in Africa is code for brutality. As to media coverage, I don't watch TV news, but I know it was on CBC Radio One, and we both know how you can find out if it was on CHED, and in the Edmonton Journal. Unfortunately neither one has decent archives, but here are the references to the coverage in the two national papers: Best overall coverage of what actually happened: <<http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?current_row=7&tf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.html&cf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&encoded_keywords=ivory+coast&option=&start_row=7&start_row_offset1=&num_rows=1&search_results_start=1&query=ivory+coast>> Good background, including a theory that it was neighbouring (and Islamic) Burkina Faso that caused the latest rebellion: http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?current_row=5&tf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.html&cf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&encoded_keywords=ivory+coast&option=&start_row=5&start_row_offset1=&num_rows=1&search_results_start=1&query=ivory+coast>> Note in this background article that Côte d'Ivoire was formerly a French colony. In fact it was part of what was known as French Equatorial Africa, which was a regional common market based on the CFA Franc (Communauté des francs afriques). The first post-independence leader, Félix Houphouët-Boigny (to pick a slight nit with the way the G&M spelled his name -- there's a diaresis over the e in his last name), was quite a character. The French, following the usual colonial mercantilist model, had converted Côte d'Ivoire from a subsistence economy into a cash commodity economy, largely based on cocoa beans. With high cocoa prices, Abidjan became known as the Paris of Africa (it's one place I never visited but always wanted to -- I was told it was as wealthy as Johannesburg). Houphouët-Boigny was very francophile and tried to make Cote d'Ivoire a Little France. That's why it's officially known as Côte d'Ivoire (both the CIA fact book, the US State Dept and Foreign Affairs Canada refer to it that way instead of Ivory Coast, its traditional English name). He also decided to move the capital away from Abidjan -- as Nigeria had moved their capital away from Lagos -- into the interior, so as to be more central. He picked his own home town (no bias there!), Yamoussoukro, a tiny backwater, and actually started building a Catholic basilica which was to be on the same basic pattern as St. Peter's in the Vatican, only larger -- it was to be the largest Catholic church in the world. I don't believe it was ever finished. Anyway, Houphouët-Boigny let/asked the French to guarantee their defence, so that's why the French intervened. It was quite legal under Ivoirean law and very welcome by the existing government in Yam'o. There were 3 articles in the National Post, including one on the family from Spruce Grove: http://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/results.asp?keywords=Ivory%2BCoast (ignore the other 7 articles -- the search engine looks for "ivory" and "coast" separately. The second story tells more about the French role: http://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/story.asp?id=98551833-879F-4C71-B16E-573DCA024385 More on the French and US role: http://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/story.asp?id=A7F81A18-D0D8-4B59-A3EB-2A687C2C03DE What I haven't seen is any specific discussion of why the US intervened, but I'm assuming it was to evacuate its nationals, which is permitted under international law. In fact, the US State Dept thanked France for evacuating people out of rebel-held territory to Yam'o, where a company of US special forces were waiting to evacuate US nationals and other westerners out of Yam'o and, if necessary, Abidjan. But it doesn't look like Abidjan is in any danger. Mark Gregson wrote: > > How is it okay for France and the United States to send troops into the Ivory Coast? > Did the government of the Ivory Coast invite them? If so, I've never heard it >discussed on any news report. Marc? > > ========= Mark Gregson [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========= -- Marc A. Schindler Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." --Michelangelo Buonarroti Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer, nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
